Saying ICD-10 holds potential to surpass even Y2K’s cost and impact, DeloitteConsulting has published a list of the ten most important things that the providers should understand right now about the conversion. The consultancy is not alone in warning that advance planning is essential to a successful ICD-10 implementation, particularly for healthcare organizations to achieve business value and competitive advantage from the new standards. Rivals such as CapGemini and PricewaterhouseCoopers as well as industry groups HIMSS and WEDI, among others, advise providers and payers to begin impact assessments in early 2010.
The ICD-10 “transformation in systems and processes is expected to catalyze significant industry change and provide potential benefits,” including cost and quality measurement, public health, research, as well as organizational monitoring and performance management, according to Christine Armstrong, a partner at Deloitte who penned the firm’s list, 10 things to know about ICD-10 implementation.
The 10 things to understand are:
1. ICD-10 will require a massive overhaul of the medical coding system.
2. Providers should conduct a three-pronged assessment that looks at the financial, operational, and technology aspects – and do so in the short-term.
3. The ICD-10 conversion will effect all areas of the revenue cycle, not just coding.
4. Hospitals will have to upgrade multiple IT systems to support ICD-10.
5. Physician practices face both financial and operational burdens from ICD-10 and associated technology requirements.
6. Expect productivity reductions, most of all in functional areas that currently use ICD-9 codes.
7. Be prepared to run dual systems during the transition.
8. ICD-10 will demand significant technology changes from providers ecosystems, including IT vendors, trading partners, external reporting entities and payors.
9. New diagnosis and procedure codes will bring security and privacy issues.
10. Medical staff, nurses, and allied health providers will all need to be trained on the new clinical documentation and coding nomenclature.
On that last point, Deloitte’s Armstrong noted that a minimum of two years training “will lessen productivity impacts,” and “support the learning curve.”
Hence,If healthcare organizations have not already started, it’s time to get their assessments underway.
source- icd10watch